116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Twisting in the wind: It can take months to clean up turbines damaged in storms
Debris remains after lightning strikes 2 turbines on Mechanicsville farm
MECHANICSVILLE — Checking her cattle late May 13, farmer Sally Freeman looked out across the newly-planted corn and saw something alarming: The wind turbine that had stood in the field since 2012 was on fire.
Lightning struck a blade and sparked a fire that spread to the nacelle, or central hub that houses the generating equipment and lubrication oil. Flames shot into the sky as the damaged blade hung down before plunging tip-first into the cornfield.
There was nothing the family or firefighters could do besides watch it burn.
“It was raining enough that night, it almost put it out,” said Freeman, 31. “If it had happened in September or October when that cornfield was mature, it would have been a huge field fire.”
This was the second wind turbine fire caused by lightning on the family’s property in 14 months, and debris remains at the sites about a quarter-mile apart. Now, the family is facing a halting cleanup and uncertainties about the turbine owner’s commitment to restoring the land for future farming.
Renewable energy in Iowa
Iowa is a national leader in wind energy with about 6,000 turbines that provide more than 60 percent of the state’s net electricity generation. Most of the time, turbines spin without incident. But a handful of dramatic incidents — such as a May 21 tornado that collapsed turbines in Southwest Iowa — capture the public’s interest.
Linn County Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt believes wind and solar energy are critical to economic development in Iowa. But she also wants to make sure landowners who sign contracts for wind projects aren’t left twisting in the wind.
She recently toured the land that Freeman farms in Cedar County along with Steve and Teresa Weets, her parents.
“Once I saw the debris field — how far out the fiberglass went — I knew that we had to make sure we were doing right by the people of Linn County in including some of these critical safety nets for wind turbines moving forward,” Running-Marquardt said.
The Linn County board is developing an ordinance with tougher regulations for utility-scale wind projects.
“I fully support renewable energy and the renewable jobs it brings to our area,” Running-Marquardt said. “If we have minimal protections put in place that considers proper notification, bonding, liability and professionals doing maintenance — we can avoid disasters like this.”
Wind provides income for farm families
The Weetses agreed to provide an easement for Acciona Wind Power to install two wind turbines on the couple’s farm in 2012.
“The income has been good,” said Steve Weets, 67. “Until the fire happened, they (Acciona) were good to work with.”
These turbines were prototypes for Acciona, which opened a turbine assembly plant in West Branch in 2007.
But Acciona suspended operations at the plant in 2014 and passed the facility on to Nordex, a German wind turbine manufacturer that purchased Acciona in 2016. Nordex Chief Executive Officer Jose Luis Blanco told Reuters in 2023 the plant could be reopened if the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act spurred more wind project development.
The first turbine on the Weets’ farm was struck by lightning during a winter storm on March 25, 2023. Acciona assembled a large crane to take down the steel column, but debris cleanup has been slow with some misfires — such as scraping off valuable topsoil to collect strands of fiberglass, Freeman said.
Acciona left the crane treads and base at the farm, where the heavy equipment crushed underground drainage tiles, Weets said. “They don’t have an emergency response team,” he said of the company. Acciona has sent cleanup crews, but “the folks on the ground can’t make decisions.”
The Gazette sent two emails and left two voicemails with Acciona’s Chicago office, but did not get a response. Nordex did not respond to an email Wednesday.
Freeman was talking with her dad May 13 about the cleanup delays. She joked that now the other turbine would be hit by lightning.
Later that night, she looked out into the rain and saw the blade on fire.
“When one turbine burns, it’s like, ‘that’s bad luck’,” Freeman said. “But then two?”
Now, piles of fiberglass, bits of charred balsa wood and metal parts are interspersed with corn that grows bigger by the day. The family has many questions: Why didn’t the turbines have lightning protection? When will the cleanup be done? Will the cornstalks be safe to harvest for animal bedding?
MidAmerican’s response to downed turbines
When an EF-4 tornado ripped through Southwest Iowa May 21, killing five people and destroying much of the town of Greenfield, it toppled six wind turbines owned my MidAmerican Energy, based in Des Moines.
People who tracked the twister with drones or in their cars for YouTube videos marveled how the towering columns were snapped in half by rotating winds of at least 100 mph. After the storms, turbine blades lay in the fields like enormous bird wings as the fuel-filled nacelles burned.
“The five at Orient (wind farm) were on a fairly narrow curved path that led right into Greenfield,” said Mike Fehr, senior vice president of renewable generation and compliance for MidAmerican. “They were near-direct hits by the tornado.”
Another turbine at the Arbor Hills wind farm nearby also collapsed. But dozens of other turbines at both projects withstood the storm and, after inspections, are back in service, Fehr said.
“They are designed to take really high winds,” he said.
When a tornado or other severe weather approaches, MidAmerican puts turbines into storm mode so they are not generating wind power. MidAmerican’s 3,500 turbines take thousands of lightning strikes a year but most pass without damage because the company has installed lightning protection systems, Fehr said.
“That night, we looked to see if there was anything blocking a road,” Fehr said. “We started collecting bigger pieces. After that, we had crews go out and walk the field to pick up whatever they could find. If you let it go too long, some of those pieces will be partially buried.”
MidAmerican hired Ternion Energy Services, of Sheridan, Wy., to remove broken blades and towers after the May 21 storm. One site has been cleaned up and five others are in progress, Fehr said. MidAmerican expects the work will be done this summer.
MidAmerican called landowners May 21 and has put those folks in touch with on-site managers, Fehr said. When the cleanup is done, MidAmerican will test the soil to make sure there are no lingering lubricants and de-compact areas where heavy equipment was used.
“When we think we’re done, we’ll have the landowner do an assessment to make sure they concur,” he said. “If the foundation is not damaged, we may put another wind turbine back up. Those are conversations we’ll have with the landowner.”
Protecting landowners
Cedar County, where Mechanicsville is located, passed a wind ordinance in 2019 that requires wind companies to decommission turbines after they’ve gone a year without producing energy. Each company must have a decommissioning plan and a performance bond or other security to pay for removing the turbine.
Linn County does not have any large-scale wind projects, but supervisors would like a future ordinance to include more specifics about storm cleanup and communication with landowners.
“I believe that most of the companies that are experts and professionals in renewable energy are doing the right thing,” Running-Marquardt said. “This is just to make sure that if there are smaller companies not based in Iowa or without a footprint here that Linn County residents are better protected in those instances.”
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters